Efficient time slot allocation for a flight plan of an aircraft

Abstract

A system and method for determining an optimum flight slot for an aircraft are provided. The method, for example, may include, but is not limited to, receiving flight plan input data from a client device, generating a flight plan based upon the flight plan input data, the flight plan including a plurality of fixes, determining a plurality of time slots based upon the flight plan input data, determining a traffic density for each fix along the flight plan for each of the plurality of slots, the traffic density based upon a number of aircraft within a bounding area containing each respective fix, determining the optimum flight time slot from the plurality of time slots based upon a weighted summation of the traffic density for each fix along the flight plan for each of the plurality of slots, and transmitting the optimum flight time slot to the client device.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A system for determining an optimum flight time slot for a target aircraft, comprising:
 a communication system; 
 a processor communicatively connected to the communication system, the processor configured to:
 receive scheduled flight plan data and real time position data for other aircraft; 
 receive surface operation position data for other aircraft and ground operation vehicles at a departure airport of the target aircraft and surface operation position data for other aircraft and ground operation vehicles at an arrival airport of the target aircraft; 
 receive weather forecast data; 
 receive a proposed flight time; 
 determine a flight plan for the target aircraft; 
 determine a plurality of flight time slots for the target aircraft based upon the proposed flight time; 
 determine, for each of the plurality of flight times slots, an estimated traffic density for the respective time slot based upon a number of aircraft expected to be within a first bounding area defined by an area around a first merging point near the departure airport according to the received flight plan data and real time position data and a first weight assigned to the first merging point, and a number of aircraft expected to be within a second bounding area defined by an area around a second merging point near the arrival airport according to the received flight plan data and real time position data and a second weight assigned to the second merging point; and 
 determine an optimal one of the plurality of flight time slots based upon the determined traffic density for each of the plurality of time slots. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 determine, for each of the plurality of flight time slots, an estimated taxi time for the departure airport based upon the received surface operation position data for other aircraft and ground operation vehicles at the departure airport of the target aircraft. 
 
     
     
       3. The system according to  claim 2 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 determine, for each of the plurality of flight time slots, an estimated taxi time for the arrival airport based upon the estimated arrival time slot for the respective plurality of flight time slots and the received surface operation position data for other aircraft and ground operation vehicles at an arrival airport of the target aircraft. 
 
     
     
       4. The system according to  claim 3 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine an optimal one of the plurality of flight time slots based upon a weighted summation of the determined traffic density, the estimated taxi time for the departure airport and the estimated taxi time for the arrival airport for each respective one the plurality of flight time slots. 
     
     
       5. The system according to  claim 4 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 determine a traffic density for each fix along the determined flight plan, wherein the determined traffic density of the respective time slot is based upon a weighted summation of the traffic density for each fix along the determined flight plan. 
 
     
     
       6. The system according to  claim 5 , wherein the first bounding area contains a first fix and the second bounding area contains a second fix and a first weight is applied to a traffic density corresponding to the first fix and a second weight is applied to a traffic density corresponding to the second fix. 
     
     
       7. The system according to  claim 6 , wherein the traffic density for each fix is calculated according to: 
       
         
           
             
               
                 D 
                 f 
               
               = 
               
                 
                   ( 
                   
                     
                       T 
                       f 
                     
                     * 
                     
                       W 
                       f 
                     
                   
                   ) 
                 
                 
                   A 
                   f 
                 
               
             
           
         
         where D f  is the density of a corresponding fix f, T is the traffic count for the corresponding fix f, W f  is a weightage applied to the corresponding fix and A is an area of the bounding box around the corresponding fix f. 
       
     
     
       8. The system according to  claim 7 , wherein each bounding area for each fix is sized based upon a distance between the respective fix, a previous fix and a next fix along the determined flight plan. 
     
     
       9. The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the plurality of time slots based upon a predetermined frequency. 
     
     
       10. The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the plurality of time slots based upon input from a client device. 
     
     
       11. A method for determining an optimum flight slot for a flight of an aircraft, comprising:
 receiving, by a processor, flight plan input data from a client device; 
 generating, by the processor, a flight plan based upon the flight plan input data, the flight plan including a plurality of fixes along the flight plan; 
 determining, by the processor, a plurality of time slots based upon the flight plan input data; 
 determining, by the processor, a traffic density for each fix along the flight plan for each of the plurality of slots, the traffic density based upon a number of aircraft within a bounding area containing each respective fix; 
 determining, by the processor, the optimum flight time slot from the plurality of time slots based upon a weighted summation of the traffic density for each fix along the flight plan for each of the plurality of slots; and 
 transmitting, by the processor, the optimum flight time slot to the client device. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 determining an estimated surface delay for a departure airport and an arrival airport for each of the plurality of time slots, wherein the optimum time slot is based upon the weighted summation of the traffic densities and the estimated surface delay for the departure airport and the arrival airport. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12 , where one of the plurality of fixes including a merging point for the departure airport and one of the plurality of fixes including a merging point for the arrival airport are weighted higher than the other plurality of fixes along the flight plan. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the traffic density for each fix is determined according to: 
       
         
           
             
               
                 D 
                 f 
               
               = 
               
                 
                   ( 
                   
                     
                       T 
                       f 
                     
                     * 
                     
                       W 
                       f 
                     
                   
                   ) 
                 
                 
                   A 
                   f 
                 
               
             
           
         
         where D f  is the density of a corresponding fix f, T is the traffic count for the corresponding fix f, W f  is a weightage applied to the corresponding fix and A is an area of the bounding box around the corresponding fix f. 
       
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the plurality of time slots are selected at a predetermined frequency. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 11 , wherein each bounding area for each fix is sized based upon a distance between the respective fix, a previous fix and a next fix along the determined flight plan.